What SXSW Taught Me About the Future of PR, AI and Trust

It’s no surprise that AI was overwhelmingly on the tip of everyone’s tongues at SXSW. As AI scales, conversations kept circling the same questions. Will journalism as we currently know it survive? Will creativity be curtailed or worse, killed? Can the human connection remain?

Beneath those conversations was evidence of a broader shift. The way information is created, surfaced and trusted is quickly changing, and PR sits right in the middle of it. 

Across sessions, one theme held steady: the tools are evolving, but the bigger shift is about who controls visibility and what gets believed.

AI is reshaping visibility and influence

Media coverage still matters, but it’s no longer defining the full picture. In “Who Owns the Truth?” Tara Palmeri and Imran Ahmed pointed to the reality that many of us are already experiencing. Algorithms now shape what people see, and they are built for engagement, not accuracy.

That shift is quickly changing how information spreads. As a result, independent voices are gaining traction because they build direct relationships with audiences, while traditional media hierarchies and placements carry less weight and influence than they once did.

For PR teams, this also introduces a new way to think about measurement. As search evolves to prioritize AI-generated answers, visibility depends on whether content is surfaced and reused by those systems. A well-placed article that is difficult for AI to process may have less reach and impact than a simpler piece that is clear, structured and easy to extract from.

Owned content and structure now drive performance

At the same time, the media model itself is under tremendous pressure. AI summaries are reducing clicks, and fewer users are visiting original sources. That shift places more responsibility on brands to create and maintain their own content. Brands that consistently publish clear, authoritative material are more likely to show up across both search and AI-driven platforms.

The formats that perform best and that are more likely to be picked up by LLMs are clear explainers, data-backed posts, expert quotes and evergreen content. Structure plays a direct role here as well. Content that leads with key information, uses concise sections and presents facts clearly is easier for both people and machines to process.

This is where PR, content and search are starting to merge. Content now needs to serve multiple roles, from media engagement to discoverability to AI visibility.

Trust is harder to earn and easier to lose

Trust came up in nearly every session, often from different angles but with the same conclusion. People have access to more information than ever, but feel less certain about what is real.

AI can generate convincing content, but it can also introduce errors and, far worse, “synthetic” content. Tech entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban, in a panel on AI and Media called this the “Milli Vanilli” effect. Cuban posited that AI-generated content is about to flood everything—video, audio, news, marketing—and most people won’t be able to tell what’s real anymore. That’s where the erosion of trust comes in.  

At the same time, algorithms filter what people see and many traditional institutions no longer hold the same level of authority. As a result, trust is shifting toward individuals, consistency and recognizable points of view.

This raises the stakes for brands. Credibility is built over time through clear messaging and transparency, but it can be lost quickly if content feels misleading or inconsistent.

AI is expanding both opportunity and risk

The cybersecurity discussions added another dimension to this shift. AI is making it easier to automate workflows and improve efficiency, but it is also enabling attacks to grow in scale and sophistication.

Organizations are deploying AI agents that can take actions and access systems, sometimes without clear oversight. At the same time, attackers are using AI to improve phishing, impersonation and other tactics.

In a session titled, “What AI Agents Are Doing While You’re Not Watching,” moderated by Sam Sabin, Cybersecurity Reporter at Axios, panelists Sitaram Iyer, Area VP Emerging Technologies, Global Architects at Palo Alto Networks, Damon McDougald, Global Cybersecurity Services Lead at Accenture and Arthi Rajan Makhija, Co-Founder and CEO at Pinch.ai, described these systems as “invisible insiders.” They can move quickly, operate at scale and are difficult to monitor. This environment makes it harder to separate signals from noise, which only increases the importance of accuracy and clarity in communication.

Human behavior remains the deciding factor

Across both security and workplace sessions, the same point kept coming up. Technology alone does not determine outcomes. Human behavior does.

Employees click links, share sensitive information or misinterpret instructions. Leaders move quickly and overlook communication. Teams avoid difficult conversations that could improve outcomes.

These challenges are not new, but they become more visible as systems scale. Strong tools help, but they do not replace the need for clear thinking and consistent behavior.

Refreshingly, there was also a strong focus on people skills. AI can handle tasks and process information, but it cannot replicate how teams collaborate or how decisions are made. Clarity, communication and feedback still drive performance, yet many organizations do not create enough space for them.

The practical takeaway that stood out was: make expectations explicit, reinforce them regularly and leave space for real discussion and creativity. Small changes in behavior can have a noticeable impact on how teams operate.

What this means for PR teams

AI is now part of the distribution layer, influencing what people see and how they interpret it. But PR has always been about shaping perception and building relationships. That still holds true, even as the systems that shape perception continue to change.

The teams that succeed will be the ones that adapt to these changes while staying grounded in the fundamentals. Clear thinking, strong relationships and useful content still carry weight.

At the same time, AI does not change how people connect. Human experience is still at the core of storytelling. For me, the most important takeaway from SXSW was the undeniable sense of community across conversations, which is something that technology cannot replicate.

AI will continue to shape how we work, and it is worth learning how to use it well. But the impact of communication still comes from perspective, emotion and storytelling. That part remains ours to carry forward.